Tour of Texas Pre Qualified Stop – Champs

<p>The Tour of Texas has been one of the best series of tournaments in the nation due to the amount of teams competing in it that end up earning a spot at USA Junior Nationals. They say that iron sharpens iron and that is definitely true with the competition that occurs from these star-studded teams.  We are going to profile quite a few of these teams and their wonderful athletes throughout the club season.  The following teams are the ones who have proven to be the best of the best with their on the court performance during the first stop.  All of these teams earned a spot in the Pre Qualified stop with their finishes from last year's Tour.  We were eager to see how they would fare.  Check out a little blurb about each of the Champs. </p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong>HJV 18 Elite</strong></p> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='431166' first='Houston' last='Juniors'] 18 Elite showed the nation that they are not one to be messed with this year.  They walked into the tourney ranked as the number one seed and didn't drop a match all weekend on their way to the Championship of the 1^ststop of this prestigious tourney.  They are led by Head Coach Kara Pratt who has over 20 years of experience leading her teams to greatness.  I have witnessed her coaching abilities for years and she will have this team in the hunt for a national medal for sure.  There are too many stars to name on this team and we will write many articles on them this season.  One of the players to watch are PD Texas 1^stTeam All-State middle [player_tooltip player_id="87480" first="Alexis" last="Roberson"] (LSU). The 13^thState Ranked middle is a stud who controls the defense for [program_tooltip program_id='431166' first='Houston' last='Juniors'].  [player_tooltip player_id="151747" first="Casey" last="Batenhorst"] (SMU) is the quarterback who dishes out dimes for this juggernaut of a team.  41^stranked [player_tooltip player_id="87493" first="Sophia" last="Agee"] (Mississippi State) and 27^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="87490" first="Oluwalademi" last="Ogunlana"] (Rice) are two players who you definitely don't want to sleep on this year as they are electric.  I plan on getting some more information from Kara on her other players soon.  Stay tuned for more on this amazing team. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Drive Nation 17 Red</strong></p> <p>They came into the tourney ranked as the number two seed overall but ran the table amongst the amazing competition with relative ease.  This team has retooled from last year and added tons of talent to their already gifted roster.  They will be one of the best teams in the nation again this year and will look to medal at Nationals.  The middles, who are show-stoppers for this team, are six foot four 36^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="141120" first="Reese" last="Robins"] (Louisville) and 34^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="141131" first="Cecily" last="Gooch"] (Michigan) and 48^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="141125" first="Leah" last="Ford"].  103^rdranked [player_tooltip player_id="122897" first="Lily" last="Nicholson"] and 24^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="141133" first="Callie" last="Kieffer"] (Alabama) are the floor generals who will feed the litany of lethal attackers all season.  94^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="141123" first="Landry" last="McEachern"] steadies the back row for this star-studded team.  We will profile the rest of the awesome players soon.  Stay tuned for more on DN as they look to stay the team to beat. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>TAV 16 Black</strong></p> <p>They came into the tourney ranked number two overall, but didn't look back as they went undefeated for the whole weekend.  This team has the chance to do something special this year as there will be very few teams in the nation who can match their size and athleticism.  TAV is loving the addition of All-World [player_tooltip player_id="155117" first="Ayden" last="Ames"], who we have ranked as the 15^thbest overall player in the age group.  The Cali transfer has continued to show that she is ready for the Texas competition.  41^stranked [player_tooltip player_id="124135" first="Bethanie" last="Wu"] is the lucky setter who gets to set the table for these amazing attackers.  38^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="142201" first="Jadyn" last="Livings"] is one to watch as she is super athletic on the pins. 4^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="124142" first="Anna" last="Boatner"] and 16^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="124104" first="Mikala" last="Young"] are two athletically gifted youngsters who will wow the crowd.  20^thranked [player_tooltip player_id="124116" first="Lillian" last="Hamilton"] and 22^ndranked [player_tooltip player_id="124130" first="Camille" last="Edwards"] are amazing as well.  This team is riddled with talent and we plan on covering them very closely.  Stay tuned for a more detailed article on the rest of their awesome players. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>TAV 15 Black</strong></p> <p>This team came in ranked as the number one seed and proved why as they ran the table and didn't drop a single set over the course of the weekend on their way to the championship.  We got a chance to see super athletic Middle Kennedy Washington in person when she came to our PD Top 250 Expo and she is amazing.  We are going to enjoy watching this team as they are flat out loaded with talent.  We will be listing their players on the State Rankings in a few weeks when we roll out the 2025 list for the first time.  Sarah Pfiffner, Sophia Thornburg, Sophia Armstrong and Sydnee Peterson are just a few of their star-studded roster.  Stay tuned for more on what is definitely one of the best teams in the nation. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As always stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes.  If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com.  Also don't forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends.  Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook.  Thanks for following us, Prep Dig Texas Family! Don't be afraid to interact with us. We love the likes, shares, and quotes/comments.  Keep them coming!</p>